Article handling device



April 27, 1943.

c. D- RYAN ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE 2 sheets-snaai 1 4Cav/:41140909.5-

C. D. RYAN ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE Filed April 16, 1941 April 27, 1943.

En Us fzo 'L 5 CoM/1400095 QRYAM, 3

Patented Apr. 27, 1943 2,317,645. ARTICLE HAAmLINGDEyIcE Commodore 1). Ryan, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to National Postal'Meter Company, Inc.,'RochV ester, N. Y., a corporation vof Delaware Application April 1 6, 1941, semaine. 366,770` s claims. (o1. 2111-126) This invention relates to devices for facilitating the handling of small objects en masse. It is particularly applicable to the handling of envelopes, and the like, before and after carrying out such operations as printing, sealing, etc.

A broad object of the invention is to simplify and facilitate the handling of envelopes, and-the like.

Another object is to provide a device for supporting envelopes, and the like, en masse, so designed as to facilitate the compression .of the envelopes in a row, whereby a plurality of the devices containing envelopes can be stacked one on top of the other without injury to the envelopes in the lower devices.

Briefly, the invention comprises a tray and a cooperating supporting rack on which the'tray can be removably mounted. The tray has end walls interconnected by a bottom and one side wall, both of which are eXtensible to permit compression of a row of envelopes in the tray between the two end walls. Other features of the-.invention reside in a simple structure for'locking the trays to the rack and for detachably mounting the rack on a machine in which the .envelopes` are to be treated.

The invention will now be fullyiexplainedby describing in detalla ,particular Aembodiment thereof, as illustrated in -thedrawings it being understood that numerous departures fromthe exact construction shown can be made without departing from the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevationof a rack and tray in accordance with the invention, the rackbeing shownmounted on a machine such as ,a mail,- treating machine, and the tray being .mounted-in position on the rack;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken in the plane II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical elevation, taken inthe plane III-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail section, taken in the plane IV-IV of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan View of the tray, with .a portion broken away Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the tray, with a portion broken away;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the tray loaded with envelopes compressed therein; and

Fig. 8 is a cross-section taken in the plane VIII-VIII of Fig. 6.

Referring to Fig. 1, a rack I inaccordance with the invention is Vdetachably supported upon thev side of any suitable machine Zand is adapted to support two trays `3, only one of Vwhich is shown inFig. 1. j

The ,rack I comprises a vertical ilatj plate .4 which overlies the' outturned danses 5, fon `the ends of apair of triangular plates 6.2the yflanges 5 being secured to the plate 4 inany suitable mannen'as by spot welding. "Elacl'lv of the flanges 5 and the'underlying portionof the plate 4 has ,a ,keyhole 1 near its unoerend adapted to engagea supporting p in 8 extending kfrom .the machine 2. Each pin 8 has a headg- There is alsoiormedin each iianee andthe yunderlying 'portion of .the plate .A4, at the lower end thereof,Y a 'notch' l0 adanted to engage a headed Ypin H .eXtendihg fromthe lower Iportion of the machine `2. lIt will be `obvious that the rack l can be attached to the machine ,211er passing ,the heads 9 of the upper pihs -thro-ugh the :large `portions of .the keyhole slots v1 v,and aligning .thenotohes l0 withthelovrer foins. .Il and then lowering the 4raokhno-Ithe snpportedposition, `as shown in Fiss.k 1 and?- The raok may b erernoved from the machinery `reversing theprocedure.

The triangular plates ,6 are formed integrally with Vaniuypper plate A12,' whichjegtends between the plates Iandinterconnects them.v T hisplate l2 yoohstitutes `a base-.to vwhiohare attached-the lowerends' ofapairof brackets Al,3-I'3.the.latter being preferably ,of channel CollStruction ,Comprising aweb of irregular shape. .asshown in Fig; ,2,withinwardlyextendineiianses 1 4 .thereon. Each vbracket 1,3 issecureditothe plate. l2 by bolts I5 extending through the'flangevmz' vThe brackets 3 support la pairgof shelf ,members .I6 and I7, both of ,which areidentcahjthe n shelf member Il beine positioned above 'andrearwardly of `the member [6. V`Both are `sjec-llflell to the brackets .|3` byleolts i8 passing through, 'the 4Iiariges I 4 of .theJbraokets Each of lthefshelves v,I6 rand ll. l is of Very simple Lconstrhlc tion comprisingfa rectangular ibase. plate lshavinga downwardly rolled .upper edge ,2.0 and leftmost edge 2 I Qand' having anupturned .bottom flange v22 andanl-,upthrnedend ange 3; Each ,end .flange has` aho1eggdand'lanoteh 251er locking; the detachame :traysgs thereto in ja 'manner tobeldejscribejd later'.

" Each .of l the ,trays comprises. a pair of telescoping sectionsl gli and.;l,respectively,vvhichy are longitudinally slidable with .respect .to each other,

within limits. yThus the section `2 l comprisesan end vs/'all 28l which is formed by, upturning the. end of .a bottomv wall 29,. anda side wallil (,FigL .8) vwhich isQrIned fby upturning o ne ,edge `of the curled upper edge is secured, as by spot welding, to the end wall 28. The adjacent edges of the end wall 28 and the side wall 30 are interconnected and the corner reinforced by an angle member 33 spot welded thereto.

The section 26, like section 21, comprises a bottom wall v23 and a side wall 30 formed integrally with an end wall 28', the latter having a handle 3l identical with the handle 3l. However wall 30 is slightly narrower than the wall 30 (Fig. 8) and the top wall 29 is slightly narrower than the bottom wall 29, and these walls are slidably engaged at their free edges by .without crumpling or damaging the envelopes in inturned flanges 34 and 35, respectively, on the i walls 3U and 29, respectively. The two sections 26 and 21 are therefore slidably supported for relative longitudinal movement. Inward movement of the two sections is limited by abutment of the inner edge 36 of the bottom wall 29 against the end wall 28, and separating movement of the two sections is limited by engagement of shoulders 31 and 38 on the walls 30' and 29', respectively, against the ends of filler strips 39 and 40,

respectively, interposed between the wall 30 and its flange 34 and between the wall 29 and its flange 35, respectively.

Because of the angular positioning of the shelves i6 and I1 (Fig. 2), the trays 3 tend to remain in proper position on the shelves by their own weight. However, it is desirable to look the trays in place on the shelves te preclude their accidental dislodgment as the result of careless handling. Hence the end wall 28 of each tray is provided with a tapered pin 42 which is adapted to be engaged in the hole 24 in the end wall 23 of the shelf, and with a headed pin 43 adapted to be engaged with the notch in the end wall 23 of the shelf. A tray is locked in position by first inserting the pin 42 through the hole 24 until the angled reinforcement 33 (Fig. 4) lies against the end wall 23 of the shelf, while holding the upper portion of the tray away from the wall l!) of the shelf, and then rocking the tray rearwardly and downwardly about the pin 42 as V a pivot to engage the pin 43 in the notch 25. When the tray has been locked in place on the shelf in the manner described, it will be found practically impossibleto dislodge the tray from the shelf as the result ofany normal operation on' the contents of the tray. However, the tray can be instantly removed from the shelf by rocking. the rear portion of the tray upwardly and forwardly to carry the pin 43 out of the notch 25 and then shifting the tray longitudinally to carry the pin 42 out of the hole 24.

The particular` tray construction described is very convenient in handling compressible objects such as envelopes. Thus envelopes can be quickly loaded into the tray in handfuls while the tray is in extended condition. Then, after it has been loosely filled, the opposite end walls 28 and 28 can be pressed inwardly to cause the two sections 26 and 21 to slide together and compress the envelopes snugly together as shown in Fig. '1, in which the bodies of the envelopes are indicated at 44 and the upwardly extending flaps of the envelopes at 45. The friction between thecooperating sliding surfaces of the two sections 26 and 21 is sufficient to retain them in contracted position, in which the envelopes are tightly compressed, so that several loaded trays can be stacked one on top of the other without bending and damaging the envelopes in the lower trays.

As a'specic example of the practical use of 'the tray and rack construction described, a multhe lowermost trays. At the end of the day the filled trays may be carried in stacked condition to the mail room where the machine 2 is located,

. and the trays then placed one or two at a time on the rack I, which is attached to the mail machine 2, while the envelopes are transferred by hand from the trays t0 the mailing machine. As fast as the trays are emptied, they can be removed from the rack l and restacked for convenience, and carried back to the department from which they came.

A particular' advantage of the tray construction disclosed is that it is open not only at the top but on one side so that it readily handles envelopes of varying length, as well as envelopes of varying width. Furthermore, it is easier to place envelopes in and remove them from the open sided tray, Particularly when supported at an angle as shown in Fig. 2, than with a conventional tray open only at the top.

Although for the purpose of explaining the invention a specific embodiment thereof has been described in substantial detail, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in the particular construction shown without departing from the invention, which is to be limited only to the extent set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a rack having a bottom wall, a side wall substantially perpendicular to said bottom wall and an end wall substantially perpendicular to both said bottom and side walls, means for supporting said pack with said end wall vertical and both said side and bottom walls inclined upwardly and outwardly from their line of intersection, an open top tray having a bottom wall adapted to rest against the bottom wall of said rack, a side wall perpendicular to said bottom wall and adapted to rest against the side wall of said rack, an end wall perpendicular to said bottom and side walls and adapted to rest against and be longitudinally located by the said end wall of said rack, one of said end walls having a headless pin and a headed pin extending therefrom and the other ofsaid end walls having a hole positioned to receive said headless pin, and a notch in its upper edge positioned to receive said headed pin whereby said tray is detachably locked to said rack by moving saidA end walls together with the headless pin`aligned with said hole and the headed pin out of alignment with said notch, and thereafter rotating the tray about the axis of the headless pinto carry the headed pin into engagement with said notch.

2. In combination, a rack having a bottom wall, a side wall substantially perpendicular to said bottom wall and an e'nd wall substantially perpendicular to both said bottom and side walls, means for supporting said rack with said end wall vertical and both said side and bottom walls inclined upwardly and outwardly from` their line of intersection, an open4 top tray having abottom wall adapted to rest against the bottomE wall of said rack, a side wall perpendicular to said bottom Wall and adapted to rest against the side Wall of said rack, an end wall perpendicular to said bottom and side walls and adapted to rest against and be longitudinally located by the saidV end Wall of said rack, a plurality of pins on one of said end Walls, and means in the other of said Wall vertical and both said side and bottom walls inclined upwardly and outwardlyfjrom their line of intersection, an open top tray having a bottom wall adapted to rest against thefbjottom wall of said rack, a side wall perpendicular to said bottom wall and adapted to rest against the side wall of said rack, an end wall perpendicular to said bottom andside walls and dapted to rest against and be longitudinally located by the said end wall of said rack, pin means'on one of said end Walls, and pin receiving mearifs in the other of said end walls in registry withfsaid pin means when said tray is positioned on said rack for releasably securing said tray against movement in a plane parallel to the bottom of` the rack and against rocking movement abouta'n axis coincident with one side edge of the rack bottom.

CQMMODORE D. RYAN. 

